Loose leaf binder



Nov. 15, E966 H. v. IVORY ETAL LOOSE LEAF BINDER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 24, 1965 Nov. 15, 1966 H. v. IVORY ETAL LOOSE LEAF BINDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1965 United States Patent O 3,285,250 LOOSE LEAF BINDER Henry V. Ivory, Chatham, NJ., and Joseph Wilfred Mac- Donald, Marcellus, and John A. Steele, Fayetteville, N.Y., assignors to Boorum d: Pease Company, Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 434,922 6 Claims. (Cl. 129-25) This invention relates to loose leaf binders of -a type known as flexible post binders and particularly to binders in which the posts are made of flexible plastic material, preferably nylon.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for holding the free ends of the nylon posts rmly in place when the binder is closed and latched and not in use.

Another object is to hold the .posts against undesired slipping when the `sheets on the posts are to be re-arranged and the :binder is not latched.

Another object is to provide an improved binder in which each binding element is substantially rectangular and low in height. This improvement has the advantages that the binders can be more easily stacked, and that they take up less room when stored or stacked.

The smooth plane top of the .binder also gives an improved and more attractive appearance.

Ot-her advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims.

The invention will be described with reference to the drawings which show a preferred embodiment.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a binder according to the invention, with one door cover open and the other closed and latched with a book-cover partly broken away. In this embodiment a unitary bar has prong housing means at each end of the binder.

FIGURE 2` is a top plan view of a modified form of binder having a pair of like housings on the top binding element, with the door cover on the le-ft closed and latched and the door cover on the right unlatched.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 but with the prongs and the door cover omitted for the purpose of clarity.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an end View of FIGURE 4 showing an end of one of the housings.

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the door cover.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the door cover.

FIGURE 8 is an end View of the end of the` door cover.

FIGURE 9 is section on line 9 9 of FIGURE 2. It is similar to FIGURE 3, but on a larger scale. It shows the door cover closed, and latched and the prongs connecting the two ibinding elements. It also shows a slight modification in that the inner end of `the floor of the housing is funder the beginning of the ceiling, whereas in FIG. 3 it is substantial-ly under the beginning o'f the oeiling, but the two are spaced slightly horizontally from each other.

FIGURE l0 is a top plan view, similar to FIGURE 2, showing a modification in which there is a spacer between the housings, and showing the top book-cover broken away.

FIGURE 11 is a section on enlarged scale on line 11-11 of FIGURE 10 showing an end view of the spacer.

FIGURE l2 is a bottom plan view of FIGURE 3 sho/wing the outer surface of the plastic bar on the bottom vbinding means.

FIGURE 13 is an end view of FIGURE 12.

of the prongs.

3,285,250 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 lCe FIGURE 14 is a broken perspective view of the hinge plate of the bottom binding means.

FIGURE 15 is a plan view of `a plastic prong.

The invention may if desired be embodied in a known type of loose leaf binder in which top and bottom binding elements are connected by prongs and are hinged to top and ybottom boolocovers respectively by a piano hinge.

The loose leaf binder shown in the drawings has rectangular top and bottom binding means 1 and 2 connected by exible plastic prongs 3 and hinged at 4 and 5 to top and bottom book-covers 6 and 7, respectively. The term connected is used in abroad sense.

As shown in the drawings, the prongs are detachably secured to the lower binding element. See especially FIGS. 9 and 15.

The Ibook-covers are of 4conventional type. Each includes a hinge plate 8, preferably of metal, with hinge l-ugs 9 which cooperate with lugs 10 on hinge .plates 11 and 12 which also .arepreferably metal and are incorporated in the top and bottom binding means, respectively.

The metal plates 11 and 12 of the binding elements bear directly against the loose leaves or sheets 13 bound in the binder. Each of these metal hinge plates 11 and 12 preferably has a flange 14 along its outer edge. See especially FIGURES 1 and 14. Rectangular plastic bars 15, 16 are attache-d to the outside of the top and bottom hinge plate respectively, so that the entire exposed upper and lower surfaces of the respective binding elements is a smooth, plane plastic surface. Each plastic bar .is secured to a metal hinge plate 11 or 12 between the hinge and the flange and is fitted closely into the angle of the lian-ge. While .the flange can, if desired, be omitted, its use add rigidity to the binding means, and protects the plastic bars against dam-age in case the binder is dropped.

The lower binding element 2 provides means :for attaching to the ibinder the nylon ptr-ong 3 which is substantially cylindrical and has an enlarged head 17 and a screw threaded portion 18 at the end attached to binding e'lement 2, and preferably has a pointed tip 19 at the free end. See especially FIGS. 9 and l5.

Plastic bar 16 is fastened to metal plate 12 on the bottom binding element by a series of rivets 20. See FIGS. 9 and 12-14. 'Dhe plastic bar and metal plate of the bottorn binding element receive the prongs through apertures 21 and 22, respectively, which are aligned with similar apertures 23 in sheets 13, and apertures 24 and 25, respectively, in the metal plate 11 and plastic bar 15 of the top binding element. See especially FIG. 9.

The plastic bar 16 on the bottom binding means has on its outer surface around each aligned aperture 21 a recessed area 26 to receive the prong head and an internal screw-threaded area 27 to cooperate with the screw threads on the prong. See especially FIGS. 3, 9 and 13.

The rectangular plastic bar 15 in the upper binding means includes housing means 28 to receive the free ends See especially FIGS. 3-5 which show one of 2 like housing means.

FIGURES 2-5 and 9 show the preferred embodiment in which the upper plastic bar consists of two separated identical housing means. An advantage of this feature is that the same die can be used for casting the housing for any binder. If longer binders are needed, they can be made 'by using a spacer 29 between two standard housing means. See especially FIGS. 10 and 11.

Housing 28 consists of a unitary plastic end wall 30, side walls 31, floor 32 and ceiling 33 between the side walls. Preferably there is little or no ceiling over the floor. This adds to the ease of casting the housing.

There is a door 34 in the ceiling at or near the end of the binder and over the apertures 25 for the prongs in the floor.

There is a cover 35 for the door hingedly attached by ter of the binder.

a sliding hinge at the outer end of the housing. The cover when closed has an outer surface substantially flush with the outer surface of the ceiling, and is smooth except for a roughened 4area 36 to be pushed by the user in operating the cover. The cover has a depending flange 37 on each edge and a lateral lug 38 on the outer end of each ange which rides in a slot 39 at the end of the Wall.

At its free inner end the cover has latch means including a pair of latching ngers 40 on its lower surface at the inner end of the cover and an upturned end 41 on the finger which catches and holds a tooth 42 extending across and downward from the under surface of the ceiling at the inner end of the door.

The combined length of the latch means and lug are substantially the length of the slot 39 so that depressing the inner end of the cover and pushing the cover toward the adjacent end of the binder releases the cover.

Hinging the cover at or near the end of the binder has the advantage that an aperture 25 for the prongs can be almost at the extereme outer end of the binder. Having a prong at the end helps to protect the sheets bound and to keep them straight.

The fact that the latching cover is attached to the binder at all is an advantage, as heretofore the covers for some |binders of this sort were not attached and were Ioften lost, making it impossible to lock the binder.

As shown in the drawings the floor is at the outer end of the binder only, whereas the ceiling is toward the cen- The t-op surface of the plastic oor is shorter than its lower surface adjacent the metallic hinge plate, as the floor has a beveled end 43 forming a smooth ramp. The ramp and the tooth 42 cooperate to form an inclined passage which directs the prong ends under the ceiling into the housing.

The inner end of the plastic oor of the housing `is substantially vertically under the inner end of the door. See especially FIG. 9.

In the modification in FIGS. 3 and 4 the oor ends substantially where the ceiling begins, but there is a gap between them.

The ceiling is spaced above and away fr-om the binding plate but has support means 44 below the ceiling spaced along its longitudinal central line and contacting the binding plate. a unitary part of the ceiling and are preferably hollow tubes receiving rivets 45 which secure the ceiling to the binding plate. The centrally spaced supporting means 44 The support means 44 are molded as under the ceiling of the housing cooperate with the housy ing walls and ceiling and the binding plate, to form tunnels to receive and hold the free ends -of the prongs. See especially FIGS. 5 and 9.

Erequently ytwo like housings constitute the entire length of the binder, and the ends of the prongs may pass from one housing into the ot-her, if the prongs are long, or if there are few sheets in the binder.

The prongs used in a binder may be all of the same length, or they may be of different lengths. For example, longer prongs may conveniently be used at the ends of the binder and shorter prongs near the middle of the binder, in order to avoid excessive overlap.

If a binder longer than the combined length of two like standard housings is required, `a spacer 29 of any length may be used between the inner ends of the housing.

A cross section of the spacer is the same as a cross section through the ceiling of the housing. The spacer has a ceiling 33, two side walls 31 and centrally spaced supporting means 44 through which rivets 45 attach it to the metal hinge plate. See especially FIGS. l0 and 11.

The floor of the housing lies against the binding plate and is secured to it by one or more eyelet rivets 47 around the apertures 25, 24 for the prongs and also by other eyelets 48.

In using a binder embodying the invention, the prongs are iirst inserted into the aligned apertures in the plastic bar and Imetal binding plate of the lower binding element and the threads on the prong are screwed into the internally threaded recesses in the bottom plastic bar until the heads -of the prongs are at least flush with the outer surface of the 1b-ar.

The door covers in the upper binding element are unlatched by pressing down on the roughened area 36 so that the -ngers on the door drop below the tooth 42, and pushing the door toward the adjacent end of the binder, and may either be leftin the position shown at the right of FIG. 2 or the covers may be fully opened to the position shown at the left of FIG. 1.

The prongs are then threaded through the aligned apertures in sheets to be Ibound and through aligned apertures in the metal binding plate and oor off the housing and through the door in the ceiling to the position shown at the left of FIG. 1. If the door cover is left in the unlatched position shown at the right of FIG. 2, pressure by the prong on the door cover will open it to the fully open position. The free end of the prong is then inserted into the inclined passage formed by the ramp on the floor and the tooth under the inner end of the door, and are thus guided in the closed part of the housing into one of the tunnels between the ceiling and the metal binding plate.

When the ends of the prongs are put in the housing mutual pressure between them and the housing holds them .against undue shifting even before the binder is closed by `latching the door cover. Therefore when the prongs at one end of the binder are in this position in the housing the other end of the top binding element can be disengaged from prongs and the section of the lloose leaf sheets at that end can be removed from or added to those prongs.

The dimensions of the housing are preferably a close lit for a diameter of a prong. For exa-mple the body 46 of the pron-g may suitably have a diameter of the order of about 1A of an inch and the vertical distance between the ceiling and the hinge plate and that between the inside of the door cover yand the floor may 4be substantially the same, i.e. about 1A of an inch. Because of their resilience, the plastic prongs and housing can be slightly deformed in use and return to their original dimensions upon separation.

When the desired sheets are on all the prongs, and the prongs on |both ends of the binder have been adjusted and placed firmly in the tunnels under the ceiling of the hous ing, the door covers are closed and are latched by pressing down on to roughened area to bring the latching nger below the tooth on the inner end of the door. While still under pressure, the door cover is pushed toward the center of the Ibinder before it is released -so that the latching lingers will pass under the tooth. Upon release the iingers move upword and latch with the tooth.

We do not wish to be limited to the illustrative embodiments shown and described in the specification and drawings. Other embodiments of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In a loose leaf binder having a pair of binding elements with aligned apertures for connecting prongs, exible binding prongs secured to one of said binding elements and housing means for the free end of said prongs on the second binding element, the housing comprising a receptacle having a ceiling, floor, end wall, and side walls with Ia slot near the end of the binder, a door in the ceiling adjacent the end wall, an aligned aperture for a prong passing through the oor under the door; a tooth extending downward from the lower surface of the ceiling near the inner end of the door and the oor having a downward slanting ramp near the inner end of the door, said ramp and tooth forming an inclined passage to direct and hold the free end of the prong under the ceiling, a

cover for the door, the outer `surface of the cover when closed being substantially ush with the outer surface of the ceiling, a depending flange on each edge of the cover, a pair of lateral lugs near the outer end of the cover to ride in the slots in the side walls, latch means on the inner end of said cover to cooperate with the tooth on the under side ofthe ceiling, the combined length of said latch means and lug being substantially the length of the slot.

2. A binder according to claim 1 in which the housing means is substantially rectangular.

3. In a loose leaf binder having top and bottom binding means hinged to top and bottom book-covers respectively and connected by liexible plastic prongs attached to one of said means, each binding lmeans comprising `a plate hinged to a book-cover, a plastic bar secured to the plate, each plate and b-ar having apertures aligned with apertures in the other plate and bar and in sheets to be bound between said means, said apertures Ibeing adapted to receive prongs, a pair of iiexible binding prongs each having an enlarged head Iat one end, the plastic bar on the bottom binding plate having on its outer surface adjacent said aligned apertures, a recessed area to receive said prong head, the upper plastic bar comprising a pair of housing means to receive the free ends of the prongs, each said housing means comprising a plastic hoor, ceiling, end wall and side walls, one of said aligned apertures passing through said plastic Hoor and through the hinge plate; a door in the ceiling near its end and over said aperture, the top surface of the oor ending substantially under the inner end of the door, the oor having a beveled end whereby the lower ,surface of the floor adjacent the hinge plate is longer than said top sunface; a tooth extending downward from the lower surface of the ceiling adjacent t-he inner end of the door .and substantially above the beveled Hoor end, said beveled end and tooth forming a passage to direct the prong end under the ceiling, a slot near the outer end of each side wall, a cover for the door, v'lateral lugs near the outer end of the cover toride in said slots, a Ilatch on the inner end of said cover to cooperate with the tooth on the under side of the ceiling at the inner end of the door, whereby depressing the inner end of the closed cover and pushing the cover toward the adjacent end of the binder releases the cover.

4. A binder as claimed in claim 3 in which there are a pair of housings, in combination with a spacer having a ceiling and a pair of side walls and having substantially the same cross section `as said housings, means securing said spacer between the inner ends of said housings, said 4means forming with .said side walls tunnels to receive the free end of the prongs.

5. A binder as claimed in claim 3 wherein said top and bottom binding means are substantially rectangular in cross section throughout substantially the length of the binding element, each housing means comprising a unitary plastic oor, ceiling, end Wall and side walls.

6. A binder according to claim 5 in which the plate has a supporting ange adjacent the plastic bar along its outer edge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,858,132 5/1932 Bingham 129-41 1,878,476 9/1932 Dupree 129--41 2,339,411 1/1944 Kern 24-153 2,641,261 6/1953 Uthurriague 129-41 3,224,449 12/1965 Potts 129-25 FOREIGN PATENTS 872,574 7/196'1 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Prmmy Examiner. 

1. IN A LOOSE LEAF BINDER HAVING A PAIR OF BINDING ELEMENTS WITH ALIGNED APERTURES FOR CONNECTING PRONGS, FLEXIBLE BINDING PRONGS SECURED TO ONE OF SAID BINDING ELEMENTS AND HOUSING MEANS FOR THE FREE END OF SAID PRONGS ON THE SECOND BINDING ELEMENT, THE HOUSING COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE HAVING A CEILING, FLOOR, END WALL, AND SIDE WALLS WITH A SLOT NEAR THE END OF THE BINDER, A DOOR IN THE CEILING ADJACENT THE END WALL, AN ALIGNED APERTURE FOR A PRONG PASSING THROUGH THE FLOOR UNDER THE DOOR; A TOOTH EXTENDING DOWNWARD FROM THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE CEILING NEAR THE INNER END OF THE DOOR AND THE FLOOR HAVING A DOWNWARD SLANTING RAMP NEAR THE INNER END OF THE DOOR SAID RAMP AND TOOTH FORMING AN INCLINED PASSAGE TO DIRECT AND HOLD THE FREE END OF THE PRONG UNDER THE CEILING, A COVER FOR THE DOOR, THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE COVER WHEN CLOSED BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CEILING, A DEPENDING FLANGE ON EACH EDGE OF THE COVER, A PAIR OF LATERAL LUGS NEAR THE OUTER END OF THE COVER TO RIDE IN THE SLOTS IN THE SIDE WALLS, LATCH MEANS ON THE INNER END OF SAID COVER TO COOPERATE WITH THE TOOTH ON THE UNDER SIDE OF THE CEILING, THE COMBINED LENGTH OF SAID LATCH MEANS AND LUG BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THE LENGTH OF THE SLOT. 